Thursday, the Zamfara police command reported that gunmen had murdered a male Chinese national in the state's Maradun Local Government Area.
SP Muhammad Shehu, the state police spokesperson, reaffirmed this in a statement he released in Gusau.
Shehu claims that when the Hilux vehicle carrying two Chinese nationals and their police escort was ambushed by many bandits while travelling to the state's Maradun Local Government Area to evaluate various government projects, the tactical operators of the command were alerted.
“As a result of the unfortunate ambush, the victims sustained various degrees of gunshot wounds and were rushed to the Federal Medical Center, Gusau for treatment.
“One of the victims named Fan Yu, male, a Chinese national was later confirmed dead by the doctors, while the other victim is responding to treatment”, Shehu said.
According to him, the police operatives who responded to the distress call regarding the ambush neutralized, 11 bandits while others fled with possible gunshot wounds.
“Two AK 47 rifles, cutlasses belonging to the terrorists were recovered by the police tactical operatives in conjunction with members of the vigilante group”, he added.
Shehu said that the command deployed additional operatives to the area to complement the ongoing operations by the joint security operatives to restore normalcy and apprehend the fleeing assailants.
The Commissioner of Police in the state, Kolo Yusuf, while commiserating with the families of the deceased, assured that effort was ongoing to arrest the perpetrators of the dastardly act to face the full wrath of the law.
Meanwhile, according to Shehu, the command’s tactical operatives also repelled bandits’ attack along Zamfara-Katsina federal highway.
“The police tactical operatives deployed along Gusau-Tsafe-Yankara road received a distress call of bandit’s plan to block the highway near Kucheri village.
“The operatives swung into action and mobilised to the location where a severe gun battle between the police and the terrorists ensued.
“Luckily, the attack was repelled while the terrorists fled back to the forest with possible gunshot injuries.
“Confidence building patrol is being intensified to avert regrouping of the bandits back to the highway,” he said.